Sadly, Nintendo of America never brought over Fatal Frame 4 from Japan on the Wii and even sat on a remake of Fatal Frame 2 that was fully translated into English by Nintendo's UK branch at a time when next to nothing was being released for the Wii and the Wii U was still months away.

And that's despite the first three titles in the franchise having been successful here on the PS2 (and Xbox for the first two) and each having seen multiple print runs to satisfy continuing demand for them. And they seem to have done well for themselves as downloadable PS2 Classics on the PS3 as well.

So we're going to need a bit of luck here if Fatal Frame 5 is to see an official release in North America since NOA doesn't seem to care about this franchise or think that there are any fans here.

The gamepad as camera makes a lot of sense, and I could see that expanded. For instance, in a fantasy environment it could be a way to scan for secret passageways in the dungeon, or detect magic. In a science fiction element, it could act like a tricorder or Geordi's visor. In a horror environment, it could let you know which people are really aliens in disguise. It could Superman's Super Vision, or 'special' glasses for Leisure Suit Larry.

I really hope that the next Fatal Frame comes out in the U.S. This would be a great game to come to the Wii U. I can't believe Fatal Frame 4 was never released in the U.S. Hopefully, Nintendo has enough sense to release the game in the U.S.

Wii U is selling half the pace of the lowly GC, in spite of this, all's they do is pump out great AAA titles, and secure exclusives like this game from 3rd parties, and still they receive bitter, dubious recriminations from the fanbase. Unless you can source why such and such a game did not get localized, you are just throwing garbage at the wall. Anyone can make baseless assumptions.

And lets be real, this discussion should be about the game. If you have a problem with Nintendo of Merica, let them know, but what do you want the rest of us to do? I really feel this is a Pavlov response, tons of Japanese games do not get localized for various reasons by every company under the sun. Do not take business decisions or localizations schedules personally.

[QUOTE=Wallyworld]I'm not going to hold my breath that we ever see this game.[/QUOTE]

Probably the wisest course of action since it minimizes the disappointment if it ends up not being localized. But at least the fans are speaking up at quite a few places that I've checked. If that matters to Nintendo at all, hopefully they will give this more serious consideration this time around.

And the apparent success of the three Operation Rainfall titles, releases initially overlooked by NOA, should also help them be a bit more willing to take a chance with this one I would think. They were sales successes not to mention the positive press that resulted.

Worst case scenario, hopefully someday down the road after its commercial life has ended, homebrewers will open the door on this system and maybe a fan localization can happen like Fatal Frame 0 received.

Recently Apple announced they are being more 'green' with their products - supposedly - and this 'announcement' came right in line with earth day? Why? - free advertising on news radio and TV. Do not look at how little they are actually doing indeed - just vague promise - more sloar and wind power for their Apple Stores. Wow. And how much? Not specified. And what about FoxConn - hahahah, no that is all the same, of course. Environmental impact - negligible, or non existent.

Exact same with operational rainfall - just words, an online activity for forums to post about and gaming webs sites to write trite page filler about.

The real 'news' always comes from investor meetings and policy announcements. Like this one, from last year :

“We therefore plan to more actively support the Japanese software developers in distributing their key titles overseas this year. Among those third-party titles both developed and published in Japan, there have been some games which Nintendo published in Europe, including the Professor Layton series. We will increase the number of such games for the U.S. market as well as in Europe. We are also willing to flexibly assist third-party developers in distributing their valuable games overseas.”

Why this sudden empahasis? To make up for lack of AAA 3rd party support. Same with partnerships and exclusives games like Sonic, Wonderful 101, Bayonetta, the Zelda spin off, and this game. And the huge Nintendo/Indie push. You cannot assume what was empathized in the past will be emphasized today, or vice versa. Times change. You should be happy about Nitnendo leadership, or some of these gamnes do not get made, period. And if no one makes the games, how can you pirate them later on your 'homebrew' channnel?

Again, you are building and promoting a false narrative, and for what purpose?